A powerful story..definiteoly not for the young..
Slight in stature and so soft-spoken that people have to lean forward to hear her, Mukhtaran Mai hardly looks the part she has been forced to play. In this overwhelmingly male-dominated society where women are seen but rarely heard, the gutsy 30-year-old rape victim is taking Pakistani society to task for the horror she experienced.
Almost two years after she was brutally gang-raped in her central Punjabi village of Mirwali on the orders of a local panchayat (council), Mukhtaran continues to press for the completion of the legal case against her assailants while administering a school she funded with money the Pakistani government gave her after the rape. She also is trying to help others who fall victim to the problems of Pakistani society.
“The unbelievable pain I experienced is hard to put into words,” she says in a near-whisper. “But I hold on to it, put myself in the public no matter what they say about my motives. … I just don’t want people to forget.”
In June 2002, members of a more powerful tribe, the Mastois, accused Mukhtaran’s younger brother of engaging in unacceptable behavior with one of their women. Panchayat members ignored the pleas of Mukhtaran’s father, who is from the lower-caste Gujar tribe, and watched as four Mastoi men dragged the sobbing woman into a shed to beat and rape her before forcing her to walk home naked.
In a country where most people are desensitized or indifferent to the never-ending flow of newspaper stories about honor killings, rapes and acid- burnings of women, Pakistanis erupted into rage – condemning the feudal system that still dominates most of the country and demanding action.
Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf sent envoys to comfort Mukhtaran and gave her 500,000 rupees (about $9,000). Human rights workers, Punjab provincial politicians and journalists rallied to her side with promises of support.
But as the case entered Pakistan’s legal labyrinth, press reports died down, and Mukhtaran found herself alone to face the consequences of her decision to go public with charges of rape.
“Almost from the very beginning, and even more so now, I receive messages from influential people in the village pressuring me to keep quiet, drop the case and stop causing trouble,” she says bitterly. “They want to me to forget it.”
Six men – four convicted rapists and two members of the tribal council – were sentenced to death by hanging by a special anti-terrorism court in Punjab province; eight other defendants were acquitted for lack of evidence. But the case is now locked in appeals that could drag on for years.
"If they slaughter me to pieces, I will never give up the case,‘’ she says. “Justice has to be served, and everybody should support that.”
Last year, she joined about 100 other women in a march in central Pakistan to protest violence against women after a young woman from another village was raped by 10 men.
Determined to overcome her pain, Mukhtaran used half of the money she received from the government to purchase land for a primary school in her area and convinced provincial officials to erect a building because she believes the education of future generations is the key to preventing others from suffering her fate.
But almost nobody came.
For the first six months, the school had only six students. The first person to enroll was Mukhtaran herself. The second was her younger brother, Abdul Shakur.
“People would say they supported the idea when they were talking to me or my family, but then in public they were silent,” she says.
Mukhtaran stubbornly continued her studies and has now advanced to the fourth grade. Gradually, more and more families sent their children to school. As of last month, the Mukhtaran Mai Primary School boasted 207 students – 102 of them females.
“A lot of people would have taken the money and run away, tried to forget, but Mukhtaran has not only stayed but has launched a visible challenge to the feudal landlords to change the status quo,” says Sarwar Bari, national coordinator for the nongovernmental organization Pattan, which has publicly backed Mukhtaran’s efforts.
“She is a symbol of resistance, an activist for others wronged, and to achieve her goals she must be seen to have broad support,” he adds. “She deserves it.”
Her quiet strength has earned Mukhtaran a reputation that is spreading beyond Mirwali. Other impoverished Pakistanis who encounter problems – like harassment from landlords, family tensions and neighborhood disputes – come to her seeking help and advice.
“Most of the time, I can’t really do anything to help them,” she says sadly. “Sometimes, though, when I can, it’s the best feeling in the world.”
Mukhtaran’s plans for the future are simple: to work as hard as she can to make the primary school succeed and to do everything in her meager power to help the women of her area.
“Maybe it’s not much, but it is enough for me,” Mukhtaran says. “It’s more than I would have thought possible two years ago.”